Operation Greens

Operation Greens aims to promote farmer producers organisations, agri-

logistics, processing facilities and professional management. The operation aims
to aid farmers and help control and limit the erratic fluctuations in the prices of
onions, potatoes and tomatoes.

TOP priority — T is for tomatoes, O for onions, and P for potatoes.

seed capital of Rs 500 crore

Operation Flood was driven largely by smallholders and the AMUL model has
ensured that 75-80 per cent of the price paid by milk consumers goes to the
farmers. Operation Greens wants to replicate that success story in fruit and
vegetables, starting with tomatoes, onions and potatoes.

However, the problem with these commodities is that their prices collapse when
their production rises sharply. This is because the country lacks modern storage
facilities and the links between processing and organised retailing are very weak.
As a result, farmers often end up receiving less than a fourth of what consumers
pay in major cities

The basic principles of Operation Flood would be useful to operationalise

Operation Greens as well.

First, link major consumption centres to major production centres with a

minimal number of intermediaries.
one needs to map mega consuming centres and link their retail networks with
the producing centres of each commodity. Farmers can be organised in farmer
producer organisations (FPOs). NABARD and SFAC (Small farmers’ agribusiness
consortium) together have about 3,000 FPOs
The Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act will have to be changed to allow
direct buying from FPOs

Second is the investment in logistics, starting with modern warehouses, that can
minimise wastage. An example is of cold storage for onions, where wastage is
reduced to less than 10 per cent, compared to the 25-30 per cent wastage in
traditional storage facilities on farmers’ fields.
solar powered warehouses should be promoted

Third is linking the processing industry with organised retailing. On an average,

about one-fourth of the produce must be processed.
Processing industry adds value and absorbs surpluses. Seen this way, the finance
minister’s announcement of increasing the allocation for the food processing
industry by 100 per cent is a welcome step. The food processing ministry will
have to coordinate with Operation Greens.

Operation is essentially a price fixation scheme that aims to ensure farmers are
given the right price for their produce. The MSP regulation has a key role to play
here. The announcement to set minimum support price of all kharif crops at 1.5
times the cost of production

The government aims to focus on basic ingredients and not on additional

commodities in agriculture. Operation Greens will work to increase demand in
the economy as well with its demand forecasting model. To help in the structural
and infrastructure part of the scheme, Jaitley announced that as many as 470
agriculture market committee (APMCs) promoted markets will now be
connected to the e-nam platform while the government will help in development
of 22,000 agricultural markets.

By developing such forward and backward linkages, the government can ease
large price fluctuations, raise farmers’ share in the price paid by the consumer
and at the same time, ensure lower prices for the consumers — a win-win
situation for all.